Hello! If you’re here, you probably saw me mention that I’ll be looking for work in 2017.

I haven’t had to look for a job since 1999, so I don’t have a resume/portfolio handy. If you follow my work, you’ll know that I’m very busy right now working on Ludum Dare, and I will be for the rest of the year. Formal stuff is going to have to wait until then.

But thanks to Ludum Dare, I know that a number of people do follow my work. So I wrote this to confirm that yes, I am looking for work, and give folks an opportunity to reach-out early. My apologies if I don’t get back right away.

So here’s a brief post about myself. If you’re feeling nosy, you can browse my public GitHub repo, or even this blog, but this blog is an anomaly (some parts a decade out of date).

These days my blog is more of a notebook; Collecting thoughts and details on topics I’ve researched, so that I can more easily repeat them or pick-up where I left off.

About Me

I run Ludum Dare. I didn’t start it, but I am its caretaker. I have been a part of it since the beginning (2002).

Besides that, starting in 1999 I worked for several game companies over the years (Sandbox Studios, Digital Illusions Canada, and Big Blue Bubble). I’ve done contracting as well. I’ve shipped more than a dozen commercial games (mostly licensed games, including a few more Barbie games than I’d care to admit); Written lots of low-level C and C++ code for Nintendo and Sony consoles, and a few games entirely in Assembly. I’ve also written lots of OpenGL, ES, and SDL code, shaders, and ported code to dozens of popular and exotic mobile and embedded platforms (most don’t exist anymore). I can 3D math, build engines, assemble a toolchain, and wrangle my way through physics. I’m formerly the Technical Director of a large Canadian game studio (Big Blue Bubble), and I ran a “financially underwhelming” indie studio for many years. That was until this side project of mine (Ludum Dare) became my focus.

I’m based in London Ontario Canada (yes, there’s a London in Canada).

I enjoy doing low-level, performance, and optimization work. I’m at-home on Linux, but spent many years on Windows using Cygwin. I’m not a fan of “black boxes”. I like to know how everything works, and know exactly what to expect. Thanks to Ludum Dare, I also know a lot about PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, Linux Servers, and all those trendy web technologies and standards that are all-the-rage. I like Vulkan and VR, but I haven’t done anything real with them.

In my spare time (ha) I toy with a bunch of other projects. I like to dabble with Arduinos, Electronics, Retro Computers, exotic SBC’s (Single Board Computers), and IOT devices. I get nerdy about getting the most out of the least expensive devices (the old cost vs power ratio), and I think eSports is cool (I used to be really in to Starcraft 2 and Smash).

I’m a pretty good cook too. 😀

I’m looking for something interesting. Not necessarily gamedev, but who knows. Something compatible with me having my own projects and commitments, like Ludum Dare. I can’t relocate to the US, but I can visit (I have no diploma. I dropped out of college to take my first industry gig). I really don’t know what options I have, but I’ve done soooo much low level and backend work, that despite industry trends, taking a Unity gig just seems like a waste (I’ve barely touched it, and I have “opinions” of C# 😉 ).

About tooNormal

tooNormal is the digital notebook of Mike Kasprzak. Some may call it a blog, but it's more a collection of notes and thoughts, when Twitter just isn't verbose enough.

Mike is a long time veteran game developer, having done time at various game studios plus "the indie thing" for well over a decade. He owns and operates SYKRONICS. He also organizes and runs Ludum Dare with some awesome people.